Environment, Health and Education

• Over 5 million HIV cases in India 
  The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) estimates that India has a HIV positive population of 5.21 million but cautioned that this figure could be much higher and the Government did not know how many people were dying of his disease.<More>

• Nuclear & Bio-Warfare Suits 
  The Indian Army has started create a large number of nuclear and biological warfare command centers to direct battle operations in a modern hostile environments in addition to mass manufacturing of nuclear radiation resistant suits for these forces.<More>

• Govt Not Banking on Separatist Vote 
  National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan said that the ongoing roundtable discussions with Jammu & Kashmiri groups cannot be held hostage by group and that separatists do not have a “veto” on the “success or otherwise” of these talks.<More>

• India Joins Thermonuclear Organization 
  Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Direct Anil Kakodkar will be signing in India as the 7th participant in the global Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor (ITER) project to contribute USD 565 million worth of indigenous material or 10% of ITER needs.<More>

• Osama Accuses West of “War on Islam” 
  An audiotape attributed to fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden said that the “Crusader-Zionist” armies are waging a “war against Islam” and said people in West shared the responsibility for their “financial and moral support.”<More>

Neighbors

• Sri Lanka Wants LTTE Banned 
  A senior Sri Lankan Government (SLG) functionary accused the LTTE of failure to continue with the peace process and honoring ceasefire agreements and called on the European Union (EU) to follow-through with its threat to ban the outfit.<More>

• King Reinstates Parliament 
  In a televised address, Nepal King Gnanendra, conceding a key Opposition demand, said that he will reinstate the Parliament he dismissed in 2002 from Friday and asked the political parties to “bear the responsibility” for restoring peace and national unity.<More> 
  The Nepal Stalemate

World